The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-10-15
For THE UNIvERsALIsT
SUES GHOST.
BY MRS. SARAH e. BURTON.

It was the queerest ghost you ever saw,
or il you never happened to see one, that
you ever heard of. Il was dressed in red
and black and had two. very bright eyes,
two small feet, with long toes and black
tail. It seemed to come from the closet
at the foot of Sues bed, and perched Git
was very funny to have ghost perch) on
the foot-board peering at Sue with its
bright little eyes and ruffling its feathers,
q for got to say the CHEST had feathers ss
if it were angry or sorry. Sue thought it
was both angry and sorry, and though she
was not angry nor afraid, she was truly
sorry.
The red and black ghost came to Sues
foot-board night after night, and he did
more than that, he came in the daytime
too. Now I have heard great many
silly stories about ghosts that I never be-
lieved, but I never heard of one in a
school-room before. This queer ghost
Whose story that am telling is true,) this
ghost with the bright eyes, little feet, tail
and feathers, actually appeared in the
school-room. Sue saw it clearly on the
page of her reader where it told OF the
bright-plumaged song birds of the South,
and when she opened her arithmetic
there it was again, pointing its bill (oh
yes! the ghost had bill } to line Of fig
ures way up in the hundred thousands,
and the ghost nodded its head, and
winked its bright eyes as much as to say,
"Lo ok at that now!" And when the schol-
ars sang, Bird of the greenwood, oh, why
art thou here?' the ghost shook its head
sadly at Sue and answered: "You know
why am here; because-you killed
mel
Sue could endure this state of things
no longer. That afternoon she went to
the closet at the foot of her bed and took
from box lovely hat that she had worn
but few times. It's principal ornament
was bird, no, stuffed bird skin, and it
looked precisely like Sues ghost The
ghost was there, too, behaving in very
singular manner, lowering over the bird
skin, caressing it with it's beak, and drop
ping tear on the bright feathers; and
Sue thought it tried to shake it's fist at
her, Chat ID its toes and claws, you know
but think she was mistaken, for ghosts
do not double up their fists, at least I
never saw one do 30. Sue looked at her
hat long time very sorrowfully, in fact
the tears rolled down her rosy cheeks in
showers. al didn't mean to kill you, lit
tie BIRDIE" she said, 81 did not know any
thing about it till papa read in Audubon
how many, many birds are killed. Oh,
I'll never, never, never do it again"
Then Sue took the bird skin from her
hat, laid it in collar-box, with some cot
ton wool, and carrying it to the gardener,
buried it under her rose.tree. What be-
came of the ghost do not know, for Sue
never saw him again, and have never
seen him. When Sunday came and she
was ready for church her mamma said:
"Why, Sue, what is the matter with
your hat? Where is the pretty bird?'
sits buried. 1t was dead, and its
ghost kept coming all the time till buried
it in the garden"
"You queer child"
But papa said: That is right, Susie, [
hope the ghosts will haunt all the little
girls and all the women and all the mil
liners till this wicked business is etop-
ped" And so 20 I.